>> shepard: i'm shepard smith in new york. this is breaking news coverage of the monster storm that's taking aim at the east coast right now. sandy is no longer a hurricane but first alert forecasters say its winds are still as strong as a hurricane. just no longer has tropical characteristics it is the most powerful storm to hit the region since they started keeping track. tonight officials are blaming the storm for one death in maryland. here in new york city a construction crane collapsed. it's dangling over midtown manhattan at around 58th street. officials say inspectors and engineers plan to climb 74 flights to check out the damage. closer look now. meteorologists say that high in the air the wind gusts

could well have hit 95 miles per hour. farther downtown, the facade of this building collapsed. this is 14th street around 8th avenue in the chelsey neighborhood. fire officials report nobody hurt. lower manhattan is now in the dark after the utility company con ed cut power to the shush tip of the island. rick leventhal is in point ileasant, new jersey where the storm is either now about to come ashore. in fact, we have just gotten an alert, the center of thehurre landfall within the last seconds. officially in south jersey. and that's where rick leventhal is now. rick? >> yeah, shepard. somebody should tell sandy that she is not a hurricane anymore. she is sure acting like one. i wish we could show you what's going on in the street outside. we will try. you really can't and the video won't do it juse tell you, thera raging, raging river out there on washington avenue. and ocean avenue there are white caps now blowing in from the ocean.

and they are swallowing up vehicles. they have dislodged a large boat shed was broke in half right in front of us. a big piece of dock came rolling down washington avenue. the situation out here has gotten worse. we have a lot of crews that are hunkering down here inside this hotel. and hoping that this water starts receding soon but i can tell you that it doesn't look like it's going to any time soon. conditions very very bad out there. nobody noe one could drive if they wanted to. they are a couple of speed at least 3 feet of water on ocean avenue and the white caps keep rolling in off the ocean. i lost my cell phone signal. i will toss it back to you, shep. >> shepard: we will get back to you in a moment that can be restored. our local meteorologists at fox 5 in new york, nic gregory is reporting on the sturgeon that's expected. we're now expecting 10 feet here. listen. >> towards the massapequa area. 10-foot surge simulation. i haven't gotten any reports

out of this area yet but you know what we are seeing is happening across the lower part of manhattan. this is probably ongoing in this area right now. a lot of water being -- flowing into this area and actually some of the high tides here in the back bays are going to be reached about an hour and a half to two hours later than in the city. we have to keep a very close eye as to the surge there. let's go south to sandy hook. this is getting it right now. they are in their high tide cycle right now. water is is at its maximum way over record levels that extends down over the jersey shore. pounding of the went. latest wind divufts kennedy airport 79. over hurricane force. there we go. >> shepard: now we know a major problem at laguardia airport. of course, laguardia is in queens, new york. it serves the tri-state region for most li domestic flights. water has breached one of the runways at laguardia airport. big problems for transportation in the northeastern united states on the way.

in addition, look at this. as you see this thing come ashore, there is an enormous dry section here which isn't going to stay. but what it is still pushing would be enormous winds. the storm has come hundreds and hundreds of miles with a sustained wind and pushed water the had way. as if you have taken a hand in a swimming pool and pushed a wave. that rain son the south shore long island and right into the city of new york. officials are reporting one person has died in a storm related crash outside d.c. meantime the sea is flowing out and innun dating coastal cities to the west. steve harrigan live from ocean city, maryland. steve, it has sounded awful there for hours. >> shepard, it has been awful for hours. some heavy winds and rain and really no way to get in or out of ocean city due to closures of some of the main roads and

highways. as far as rescues go we have just heard from rescue operations workers here in ocean city. they have carried out at least 30 so far tonight. this is mainly national guard troops moving in humvees going to places where people are simply afraid the water is rising too high for them. calling for rescues. at least 3 or 400 people in shelters overnight and as far as the situation goes, with the flooding, downtown ocean city, parts of it it are heavily flooded and sealed off. one man spoke to us of having chest deep water when he he was walking through it. as far as the main pier goes here on the board walk where water has been overtopping that iconic pier has been smashed by 15 or 20-foot waves. we still have electric power where we are, but there are reports of up to 30 or 40,000 people mainly in the baltimore area. they have already lost their electric power so far this evening. probably more to come, shepard. >> shepard: steve harrigan. thanks very much. i appreciate it the larger picture of things is beginning

to come clear from atlantic city north and all along the shore of long island. the flooding is starting. high tide at long beach, long island is 8:40 p.m. tonight. so 35 minutes from now. the waves are still coming ashore. we are working to make contact with our correspondent jonathan hunt who is there now. this is long island and all of these barrier islands are very much in danger tonight. the sturgeon is expected to be somewhere around 11 feet as they top -- i mean, can you see how small it is. at the same time, these pounding winds are pushing water in to long island sound. and the thinking is that that water, according to the mayor of new york city will take about four hours to get down here and then flood much of this region. this is southern connecticut and the city of new york over here and long island. so, sturgeon is the big word of the day and rick reichmuth our chief meteorologist has been watching for it all day long. rick, you have predicted this thing almost to a tee. it's nuts. >> the worst storm obviously

that we have ever seen. things that start getting leading on this. look at satellite picture no rain possibly going on right here so you might think there is no winds going on there. that's not the case. the winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere on the northern side here are gusting at about 120 miles per hour. some of those winds get funneled down to the surface and that's what we are seeing. the winds now out across parts of long island are the worst we have seen so far even though the center of the storm moving on shore down here across parts of south jersey. the wind all day long has been kind of out of the north here heading towards the center of that storm. and we still have all this water pushing up here. those winds are beginning to change and as you have been saying very well, shepard, now a little bit out of the south and eventually coming in kind of towards the east. these reporting stations have been blown off. take a look at the last couple hours here of these winds. we had 80 mile-per-hour wind. i think it was 82 miles per hour. look at all of these numbers at 7:30, shep. 79 miles per hour right now in jfk.

78 in newark. 5. look at the arrows. you are seeing coming from the east all that water funneling in here. record level sea prices at kicks point and now with the battery it's up to just about 13 feet. just over 13 feet. that's a reasonable doubt row but the winds are still out of the east. that means the winds are pummeling the water here forcing it into the center. see the winds shifted out of the southeast. pushes more water in here. got about 45 minutes. it's 8:53, shep. high tied at battery park. the water getting dangerously close to getting into those subways. >> shepard: step aside so we can see the battery there. we have been getting reports all day that the previous high was 11.2 feet. once it get to 13 like you were just discussing that that's when we had very serious concerns that the subway systems in lower manhattan might flood. come on in and show us if you would. is it your sense that's where we are now? >> it is. latest reading 13. gone up by a foot and a half

in the last 45 minutes, shep. we have 45 minutes left until high tide. the water continues to rise here. the water continues to rise here across the eastern ends of long island. the water can't get out there, because it's filling up here. we will probably see water rise up the hudson river about 200 miles up. gives you an idea of how strong this force is. coming in off of the ocean. those are pictures from earlier there down around battery. that was before the high tide cycle that we're in now. corresponding with the height of the wind going there. and the worst of this sturgeon. that's what all the predictions have been and have been so scary and what we are likely going to be seeing here. we are going to know in the next our or two if we start to see water going in the subway system. >> lower manhattan flooded. the fdr drive along the east river in manhattan flooded below 20th street. the surge is still coming in. let's get to jeff pitrowski. is he heading up to new york city from the jersey shore.

it's our understanding the parkway a toll road there and it's under water? >> yeah. places shep, all the way from north up the east coast east of the garden state parkway there is debris as well as animals, deers and animals all taking shelter because there is high ground on the parkway. many communities are reporting flooding and innun dating these. cape point to the northeast corner of new jersey many towns reporting going under water on the beaches now water surging over the board walk in many locations. water rescuers are underway. in atlantic city 400 people are trapped down there and have been since late this afternoon. they are still trapped. they cannot be rescued. but we have water rescues all along the eastern coast right now and many cities along the eastern shores going underwater as the sturgeon has now undertaken those. winds have quit from this northwest wind offshore that hurricane -- on shore means

that the eye and the wind on the coast have swung around northeast to east. it's surging in across the northeast corner of new jersey. as well as up into your area of lower manhattan and also farther there on the south side. that's where the sturgeon is headed now. along the path coming up north here, which had transformers blowing the entire time. probably over 100 transformers there is emergency crews running north and southbound with utility workers with the state police trying to keep the area open. i can tell you it's a very bad scene the farer southeast you go atlantic city area. ocean city very bad scene down there. water is at deep as 8 feet in homes and it's above roof tops in a the love those cities. it's very bad down there. coming back north to report back from -- as the sturgeon is in that area now. >> shepard: we will get back to you as events warrant. sturgeon is coming in to new york now.

widespread flooding across the region long island and jersey shore. just moments ago or i should say within the last hour, all of the major bridges in the tri-state area were closed so traffic in and out is now an impossibility. we'll have continuing coverage of that and go to our hurricane hunters live all along the shore. this is a live picture of the george washington bridge. the most heavily traveled bridge of its kind in the united states with two levels and 16 lanes. it is closed to all traffic as is the at that tappan, the try w r.f.k. new york city is impassable as the lights go off in our studio tonight. there are power problems as well. we will keep you updated through the this hour. right now what i can tell you is there have been intermittently power outages. as you look around our studio. midtown, manhattan. you can pan around. it's fine. go right ahead there have been intermittently power outages threat the early evening now as you can see we are on generator power here in our

studios. our generators allow you to see and now con edison has the power back on. all of the power off in lower manhattan. they have shut it off in the last hour. so that the machines which make the power, the steam engines and the rest aren't corroded by salt water. the fear is as the lower part of the city floods so will be the subway system and all of the trenches within this big rock that is manhattan that contain our electrical grid. tomorrow is going to be a fascinating day. 4g lte is the fastest.

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>> shepard: continuing coonk of the hurricane, super storm which has made landfall south jersey and now the sturgeon coming up into northern new jersey, long island new york, into new york city where flooding has begun the lower part of manhattan show new a moment. in addition, take a look at the map here, we can show you this is long island and the long island sound up here is

connecticut. new london, connecticut. they brought out the national guard. they have asked police and fire officials to get off the streets. it's just too dangerous now. our molly line live in the town of new london. i was wondering if we could get molly up what it looks like there and what you are feeling. >> absolutely, shep. the storm may be coming ashore south of us, but what's happening in connecticut is no joke and the authorities are definitely treating this as something very very serious. governor daniel maloy has talked about this is a life-athletic storm that hasn't been experienced in anyone's lifetime and in to noe uncertain terms he has asked people to stay home. take a look behind me. this is a big threat right now that the authorities are talking about. the sturgeon. we have not yet reached high tide. below that fence is a sea wall. the water has come up over that sea wall into the neighborhoods, into the park behind it and this is happening new london, connecticut. we have been driving around

looking at things. 220,000 people. more than that are without power right now largely because of massive trees are some -- come down. multiple trees into people's homes. we have seen them taking out the power lines. that's one of the big dangers that people are still out looking at this storm. it's dark and they may not realize there are power lines down until utilities will have a chance to look at things in the morning. hundreds of thousands of people without power right now. there have been shelters that have been closed and moved because a generator failed. one of the shelters had to it be moved. 60 people relocated. a very serious situation still developing and we have yet to see the water that they're expecting to see. shep? >> shepard: molly line live in new london, connecticut. south of there the storm made landfall south of atlantic city, new jersey. our craig boswell outside live atlantic city now. i hear it's still rough, there craig. >> shep, good evening we have moved out of atlantic city. higher ground. atlantic city is a mess. has been most of the day. certainly as we inch our way into high tide as that water

starts to come ashore. we have moved into absecon, new jersey. down the road is atlantic city. can you see we actually have power in this area. this is a blessing for the people that have evacuated into absecon. down the road about two of those traffic lights that's where atlantic city is. you can't get into there. earlier today people were getting around by boat, can a knewing from house to house to house. you probably have seen some of that video. south long port officials are going door to door. still this evening just checking on people that did not evacuate. remember, there were some 115,000 people on barrier islands forced to evacuated. some of them didn't. some of them have stayed put. we have the power still on. that is not the case. forget about it if you were one of those barrier islands in atlantic city. tens of thousands of people without power there just because you see us standing in between some of those intermittently bands of rain or wind. don't take this storm lightly. there is more to come. still heading into high tide yet to see how much water

actually pushes into some of these inland areas. back to you, shep. >> shepard: boss well, thanks. a firehouse needs to be evacuated not by car but by boat. we have live reports on those items right after this. ñ768(?

>> shepard: 23 minutes past the hour super storm. look new new york and new jerse. one of the many bridges shut down tonight. all of the local bridges are shut down. new york city virtually isolated. we have a new death to report. the city of new york reports a 30-year-old man has been crushed to death after a downed tree crashed into his apartment in flushing in the new york city burrow of queens. there is an urgent call as well coming out of a firehouse in brooklyn, new york. firehouse evacuation of engine 206, which is on grand street

off the newton creek requesting not trucks or cars but boats to evacuate the men inside engine 206. the water has risen so quickly. it's a live look at the fdr drive now on the main highway on the east side of manhattan. it is under water south of 20th street all the way around lower manhattan. the storm surge is lower manhattan has reached. the fear was the storm surge would top the previous record of 11.2 feet. instead it's now at 13 feet officially from the national weather service. and arrested cog to the national weather service that is enough to inundate lower manhattan. we are told now the flooding all around the southern tip of manhattan in parts of queens and staten island. communication is certainly limited. 1.5 million people are without power and the damage estimates in the early going here are now at 10 to $20 million, which would make this one of the most costly natural disasters in american history. wow. david lee miller has been

following this storm. the u.s. financial markets were closed today. they will be closed again tomorrow for the first time since 1888 that weather has forced wall street to shut down for multiple days. david lee miller has been traveling around the southern tip of our city. david lee, what are you seeing out there? >> shepard, it's no exaggeration to say much of manhattan at this hour looks like the sets of a disaster film. lower manhattan especially. flooding continues. much of the battery which is the area lie lowing at the tip of manhattan now covered with with water. the water continues to cass -- cass dated one of the roadways. zone a a mandatory evacuation have said they refuse to leave. about 10% of the people who live there. con ed now turning off the power that has already not been disconnected in order to prevent damage to their system. and off in the distance, shepard, across the hudson river in new jersey, i have seen repeated explosion.

i am told that they are transformers that are simply exploding sending a magnificent explosion of light that you can see across the river as i travel knot up manhattan up along eighth avenue. very disturbing and upsetting site a four story building. the entire front of the building, shepard, completely sheared off it looks like a doll house. at this hour not clear what, if any, injuries there are. everywhere you travel through the manhattan, there is danger. not just high water but there are high winds. and everywhere you travel there is debris. anyone outside the great peril. shepard? >> shepard: david lee, we are getting pictures up of the building that collapsed in the chelsey section of manhattan. this is the facade that fell off. there on eighth avenue where it fell into the avenue near

14th street, right? >> that's exactly right. there are scores of police outside. and it is such a dramatic picture, shepard, when you look at this building, it almost looks like observing a doll house because there is no front to the building. but, in fact, a terrible tragedy has taken place there it's hard to imagine what those inside experienced. you can see what it looks like, furniture, what looks like a couch. and home furnishings. this was not an industrial building. it looked like people up until just a few moments ago had been living there shepard? >> shepard: david lee, we are watching this thing still come ashore. i want to show you over here that this is times square. three cars that's it. this is all the way down the avenue and along the side. i want to take you to battery park city which is now under water. our local fox 5 that new yorkers watch is live there. these are live pictures in battery park city, the southern at this tip of manhatt.

just as greatly feared it is flooded. let's listen. >> we have been seeing a lot of people still out and about. the winds really not feeling anything dangerous here so though there are a lot of people out. it's not raining at this point either. so the mood it seems what light. people are more interested in taking pictures than taking shelter at this point. the water damage is significant. that could have repercussions with con ed. they have been saying earlier if the flooding were significant enough they would just have to shut down power preemptively rather than flood some of the equipment as it was running that's one of the concerns that may still be at play here. certainly getting to that high tide point so the water could get worse before it gets any better. that is the very latest from here. i'm going to -- this is how i can hear you guys talking to me. greg and ernie. >> shepard: greg kelly and ernie from fox 5. keep listening. >> levels there. you know my house. i live about a block away from you. it's -- i mean a block away from where you are standing is

going to be. uninhabitable for a little while. >> i think so. they are saying the water should recede with low tide but there is a lot of water to contend with. certainly things like basements of apartment buildings are not going to be fairing well. >> is there somebody stuck back there? you can see somebody standing on a telephone -- yeah, back there. what's going on with this guy or two people there? >> you know what? people are actually just out here kind of having a good time. it's a little striking given all the warnings we have been telling people. but, when you come out here, it just doesn't feel as dire and people are seeing this as an opportunity to photograph history to be in history. actually though, can you see a vehicle just past that telephone booth that is pretty submerged in water up past the doors there. i think that is a car just behind that telephone pole. come poor soul decided to park their vehicle there. they will have some real issues come morning. >> the guys on top of that

stoop if we can go back tomorrow, this only about half of the stoop is actually visible. the other half is under water. i know that deli well. they are standing there. if they go any lower they will get wet. >> they will have to go back in that building. >> it will be like waist high. >> shepard: amid the talk of local concerns of my apartment and yours, there are serious concerns about what is happening beneath the city. all over the city of new york today, you could see where they had duct taped down these doors that open where you can go underneath buildings all over the city. the water flowing into the subway stations of enormous concerns. the reporter there was mentioning of course the water will recede as the tide goes out and they will. salt water and salt water corrodes metal. it's metal that takes care of the electrical system all over this city. so they there are great questions about what lower manhattan at least will look like. if you look here in midtown,

manhattan though in times square so flooding at all. it's not to say that the entire city is flooded, it isn't. but the southern tip of this city is very much under water and the water is still rising. we will take you up and down the east coast as our coverage continues. we will take you into connecticut and the long island sound. we will update the numbers from the meteorologist department here at fox news and we'll keep you updated on the mega storm of 2012. o'reilly has the night off. we hope he is high and dry. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix.

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to the wind for a second. i'm not sure if you can see the water that's rushing down the street but there are white caps coming off the ocean. the dunes that were there protecting the land from the sea from completely washed away. there are literally waves of water rushing down washington avenue across ocean avenue. now up to the front doors of many of the homes here. up to the bumpers of cars and parking lot of this hotel. the power is outhere. it's been out for some time now. and we have seen no vehicles on the road. you really can't drive on these streets right now. the wind doesn't seem to be dying down at all. i would say it's gusting well over 70 miles per hour. and, again, the water is the main issue now. the storm surge as they predicted has become reality. stormthe ocean is now in point pleasant beach, covering the streets here and it doesn't show any sign of letting up,

shep. >> shepard: rick, the real concern has been that a lot of houses would be lost. the water would come over those roads that gorgeous jersey shoreline in many places would be washed away. is this t. that severe or will we not know until daylight. >> well, we will obviously learn a lot more when the sun comes up. i saw a large boat shed about the size of a single car garage wash down from the beach. it sat here in the intersection and then broke in half and everything went flying. i have seen large sections of dock float by. a one giant piece of something. we couldn't identify it. it was probably 30 feet long and had struts coming off it that floated by. pieces of fence, and what looked like sides of homes it could be that some of the homes along the ocean have been damaged. there is no way that they are not getting armed right now. the water is 2 to 3-foot high. the current is very strong. that's a current that's on the streets here in point pleasant beach.

>> rick, it's our understanding that you are going to get battered and beaten along that coast for many many more hours. >> you know, there is another high tide in the morning. we were warned that the surge could last through several tide cycles because the storm is so large and because it's pushing so much water this way. we had hoped that the high tide was about an hour ago or around this time would start to recreate and the vehicles in the parking lot would be okay. there is not water in the basement -- in the ground floor of this hotel. and it's tough to say how long we are going with be with these conditions. again, no sign of letting up. it is really really powerful. 2:00 this afternoon. i clocked gusts at 67 miles per hour. then the wind meter broke. can i tell you right now that we are significantly above that. >> shepard: rick, do you have a sense, rick, for when it is that -- are the locals told you when they think these winds are going to shift and

the situation is going to change there? >> they had said by tomorrow morning that they thought it would be around 30 miles per hour. jersey shore. all these towns were under mandatory evacuation orders. here in mount ple beach. most of the residents did heed those warnings. we know in atlantic city half the residents didn't get out. they were doing rescues as late as the this afternoon with bows and high water vehicles to move people out of the homes that had tried to ride it out. that's not the case here. a few residents did check in to this hotel to ride out the storm. the rest of the people here are media. we have got 3 satellite trucks in the parking lot that are hoping they are not swamped by these high waters. a lot of suvs and other vehicles are, the water get up to the bumpers of many of these vehicles. i wish you could see -- can i get one more look out here. at the water in the street. can you see that?

>> shepard: if you iris way up, rick, we might be able. >> to try to iris -- i mean, it is nasty. >> shepard: now we can see it a little bit. take the gain all the way up. >> the gain all the way up. the current is really strong and the winds blowing out here. >> shepard: rick, i have got to tell you and there goes your light. but when the railing out there is not in your picture, when the railing is not in your picture we can see the sea. so if he zooms past the railing we can see it with the gain at max. >> mike, if gain is maxed if you go past the railing they can see the water. this happens very quickly. we expected that it might. >> shepard: if the railing is in your picture, it washes out. >> yeah. get atlantic city itself.

many other cities up and down, coastal cities up and down the jersey shore are under water like this. >> shepard: we may have lost our connection with him again. it could have be a satellite

connection. first i should tell you we have just gotten new information. i have told you we have had this rising surge in new york city. the surge has now flooded all of lower manhattan. it's flooded the fdr drive up the east side of the city. it's also flooded up the west side of the city and i have just gotten this urgent the brooklyn battery tunnel which connects manhattan with brooklyn is now flooding. the surge has come over the banks and into the tunnel and it is now flooding. pumping water out of the tunnels in new york city depending on the volume of water ask take 15 hours and four days if all of the tunnels begin to flood and the worse case scenario that they have been predicting finds us, we could be shut down for days. the hope is they will be able to keep the water out of most of the tunnel. keep the water out of the subway systems. be able to get the electrical grid back up and working tomorrow morning. we have no assurances of that.

the storm is now coming ashore. the surge is now rising in new york city and along long island. the brooklyn battery tunnel is starting to flood. and our coverage of a developing extremely serious storm, the noest powerful storm to hit the united states in the northeastern region in recorded of history that dates to the mid 1800s and you are looking live. [ metal rattling ] ♪

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>> shepard: some new pictures in on the east coast. crane dangling. see that? see the white flashes? that's either lightning or transformers exploding. we have reports of hundreds of transformers exploding in and around the new york city area. we're worried very much about the tides here as well. the storm surge is now a record in history for new york city. 2 feet above any storm surge previously. the tide now 13 feet in lower manhattan and all of the lower part of new york city is flooded. now all the way up to 14th street and the union square area. for those of how are familiar. power is now out there. that's not a controlled turn off. that t. going off all over the big city. to our east on long island, the high tide at long beach happened six minutes ago. our correspondent jonathan hunt is there. and jonathan, i'm guessing the surge is extraordinary. >> the surge is extraordinary. it just keeps on coming, shep. i think with the storm coming

ashore earlier than expected, we also felt like the surge started earlier here. the entire two bottom two floors flooded floor three and above right now. the board walk is shut down. the waves -- as i have watched them from here outside our balcony. i'm sorry we do not have enough battery power to give you lights outside. the lights -- waves have been coming over the board walk. this is so much worse than when i stood here 14 months ago for hurricane irene. i would say that broadway which runs the entire length of new york city parallel with the ocean is under something like 5 feet. every single home is impossible to imagine how all of them aren't completely inundated on the ground level. the water goes back street after street after street as far as we can see. we cannot get out of this hotel right now to explore

further. but it is a desperate situation for anybody who did not heed those warnings, which were said again and again by officials. get off of what is a barrier island. get out while you can. now it is way way too late. we wait for day break to see when this surge ends. and also the extent of the damage it has done. it is going to be bad here in long beach city and across the length of long island, shep. you and i have covered a the love hurricanes and we have seen a lot of storms. can i tell you i have never seen a storm surge like this, shep. >> shepard: jonathan hunt live on long island in new york. so, it's becoming clear what we are witnessing from virginia beach up through washington into new york along long island and even into new england. we're witnessing a historic natural disaster. the damage estimates are always already at 10 to $20 billion and they will rise as does the death toll. and we'll be right back.

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>> shepard: you are looking live, that is the lower end of manhattan. we have not seen anything like this in nine years. in august of 2003, the great blackout happened in the northeast and new york city went black. this is the next time. the great storm of 2012 has done it this time. we have record flooding on the tip of manhattan and this is a live picture coming through the facilities of our network news service affiliate wabc. the abc owned and operated system here in new york channel 7. all of lower manhattan is dark. i have just received word in addition the union square area which is on manhattan's east side, right down the middle, actually, at 14th street also fully dark. as is the east side of

manhattan below 34th street. in addition, around this now blackened area that you are looking at, with no lights at all is the fdr drive to the, i guess the left of your picture here. going up the east side. it's flooded. the lower end of manhattan is flooded. the western side of manhattan all along the river is flooded. and water is said to be approaching the subway systems. we have no way to know whether the water will get into those systems or whether the electrical grid will be compromised below. but we have seen many flashes throughout the evening which indicate to us that either there is is lightning or transformers are blowing. that is a lit up world trade center site, i believe, which runs on generator power. and a bridge in the near ground over which you most likely will see no cars traveling as all the major bridges in and around new york city are closed. the tunnels into and out of manhattan are closed. the brooklyn battery tub which

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the city with reports that cars are just sort of everywhere and know one quite knows what to do. we also have reports in the lower end of manhattan that the water is now coming from the new york harbor with this very high tide flooding lower manhattan and the water is cascading into the brooklyn battery tunnel and filling it with water. on the east side of manhattan along the fdr drive which runs all along the eastern side of the island itself, all the way from the southern tip of manhattan, all the way up the east river, the flooding is now to at least the mid 20s which means at least 55 to 60 blocks of the fdr drive is underwater. a similar situation on the west side of the borough of manhattan with flooding all up and down the eastern seaboard. let's go down to the storm chaser, jeff, who is making his way up the jersey shore. it's about 30 miles south of manhattan. jeff, what are you seeing?

>> reporter: shep, what's unfolding here, believe it or not, the water has backed up in the canal and over here we have about two to four feet of water in garden state parkway. we've had water rescues both in the northbound and southbound lanes of the garden state parkway just about a mile to the northwest of the union beach area as well as the ha hazile a. it's pouring in the back base and tributaries and they have white caps of two to three feet with water surging. your picture there where you see the blinking, we've got water surging. it looks like a wave literally surging from the bend off to my right which is toward new york harbor coming westward across the garden state parkway and it went across the road and they had water rescues also on the east side going southbound. water is about three to four foot on the garden state parkway with white caps.

unbelievable. >> along the way, jeff, thank very much. i'm getting a number of updates on our communication devices tonight. new york city's 9-1-1 is on overload. a spokeswoman said the city is experiencing unusually high volume of 9-1-1. a bigger picture is coming into focus for us. the storm came ashore about right here, lower part of new jersey, and from atlantic city and to the north all the way out 0 on long island, the water is pushing in i in, and an ep iic l disaster is coming into focus. it's our belief from correspondents reporting along the coastline that all these beach communities are being inundated, that roads are washing out, basements are being flooded, the billing biggest city in the united states is flooding, the power is out on its southern shore. the subway systems are out in all the major cities in the northeastern united states and the storm is churning and expected to continue to churn for days. the storm surge has been higher than ever in the history of this region and higher an